This happened in the waiting room at the Dr's office this morning, and while I don't think I was rude, I would like to know what you all think.

The waiting room has 8 chairs. It is a small practice and I have never been in there when more than 5 chairs at a time have been taken. That said, if ever I were in the room and 6 of the 8 chairs were in use, I would not put my things on a chair in case 2 more people came in at once. This morning when I was in, there were 3 folks in the waiting room (including me). I sat down and put my (knee length leather) jacket and purse on the chair next to me. That left empty chairs as follows (o = empty, x = person, m = me, p = my purse, r = receptionist):ooxo rpmox

When I sat down, I was anticipating a longish wait as I was 15 minutes early and had to see both the dr and the nurse. I spin yarn and knit and find that the waiting room at the dr's office is a nice place to work on this as I always have to wait and it's one of the rare times I don't have little hands trying to "help" me hold the yarn. I pulled out my spinning project* and set to work. This led to a nice sort of conversation with the woman across from me who was interested in what I was doing. This is also the other reason I wanted my purse next to me - so I could access my wool to add it on to my spindle.

As I was working and waiting for my appointment, another woman came in, checked in and then walked across the room to the seat where my purse was.

Her: "I want to sit there."I just looked up at her and tried to formulate a response. I said "Uhhhhhm??" and looked around at the empty seats trying to figure out why she wanted specifically the seat where my purse was, since the door to the actual office was by the receptionist and there were quite a few empty seats.

She huffed out a "Uhg! Never mind!" And flounced (really flounced!) to the empty seat across from the one she wanted.

I was called in to the nurse shortly after that. When I came back out, she was gone (and only one person was in the waiting room), so I sat back where I was, put my jacket and purse back on the seat next to me, and waited to be called to see the Dr.

I personally don't think I was rude to put my coat and purse on the seat next to me. Of course, I would have moved it if there has been fewer seats to people.

I think that it's generally not good form to take a seat right next to someone anyway, if there are other seats available.

However, I think you should have put your purse on the chair between you and the other person, leaving the outer seat available. (because the seat between you is the least attractive seat to an arriving person)

I think your "uhhhh" is the rude part. You should have said, "Oh, just a moment," and gathered your things.

(but I do think this lady was trying to prove a point, the point being, "chairs are for people, not things")

I don't agree with the idea that one should never put things on a chair, and I don't think you were rude for doing so.

That's what I was wondering. If the chairs are all pretty much equal, I don't think you were rude. If there was a reason why that chair in particular might be more desirable, then you should have been prepared to move your stuff quickly if necessary.

I don't think it's inherently rude to put your stuff on a chair. I do think you should be prepared to move it quickly and that if possible, you should avoid putting your stuff on a chair that would be more in demand than others for some reason.

Was there any reason why the chair next to you was better....like could you see a TV or something? if all things being equal then I don't think you were rude.

No tv in the waiting room. Not closer to the magazines. It was in every way identical to the other four empty seats, including a seat which was next to no one (often a preferred seat at a dr's office).

I think that it's generally not good form to take a seat right next to someone anyway, if there are other seats available.

However, I think you should have put your purse on the chair between you and the other person, leaving the outer seat available. (because the seat between you is the least attractive seat to an arriving person)

I think your "uhhhh" is the rude part. You should have said, "Oh, just a moment," and gathered your things.

(but I do think this lady was trying to prove a point, the point being, "chairs are for people, not things")

I don't agree with the idea that one should never put things on a chair, and I don't think you were rude for doing so.

It wasn't actually an outer seat. More like an inner seat. It was next to a wall.

Was there any reason why the chair next to you was better....like could you see a TV or something? if all things being equal then I don't think you were rude.

No tv in the waiting room. Not closer to the magazines. It was in every way identical to the other four empty seats, including a seat which was next to no one (often a preferred seat at a dr's office).

In that case, I think the lady sounds a bit SS. I don't think you were rude.

If there had not been open seats available, then I think the OP would have needed to move her things off the extra chair (before being asked to so do), but that wasn't the situation the OP described.

Also, I agree with TootsNYC about not sitting right next to someone when there are other seats available.

I'm sorry I think you missed my point. In my opinion, chairs are for people, not things, regardless of how many unoccupied chairs there were.

I don't think anyone missed your point. But even if you believe chairs are for people, I don't think the OP can be considered rude in this scenario. She wasn't preventing anyone from sitting down. There were plenty of seats available.

If purses or bags can never be placed on seats regardless of the number free, then I must be rude on a regular basis.